Obframtotai



May 15, 1923. 1,454,845

N. S. CLAY ORNAMENTAL ARTICLE AND METHOD OF PRODUCING THE SAME Filed June 25 1919 N 0 O O k Y WITNESSES: 7 /INVETJTE; MW Q0 6 0y ATTORNEY Patented May 15,1923.

UNi F-D STATES N OFFICE IIOBLE s. 0142,: or wnxmsnune, rmmsynvnmn, ASSlIGhlOR 'rowinsrmonousn nLEcrnIc a mmrrnc'runme oomrm, A conroaarrrou or PENNSYLVANIA."

cum-n1. aa'rrcnnnnn mn'rnon or rnonuc'me. 'rrrn smn I a Application filed. June 35,1919. Serial No. 806,617. Y

To all whom it may concern Be it known that '1, Norm: S. CLAY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Wilkinsburg, in the county of, Allegheny and State of Pennsylvanimhave invented a new and useful Im rovement in Ornamental.

Articles and] Met ods of Producing the Same, of which the, following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the formation of a woven material, such as duck. I have found mar mol ornamentalarticles and it has, for its priobject, "the provision of a method for ing an ornamental surfacing to an Heretofore, it has been customary to ornament articles by stencihng or transferrmg suitable ornamental designs, insignia, trade marks and the like, in the desired color or colors, directlyu on the article to be ornamerited. While, in many cases, this method is satisfactory, in numerous instances it does not result in a decoration that is as perma-.

nent and clear as may be desired, because of lack of' adhesion'between the pigments or dyes and the material of the article to be ornamented. Furthermore, the ornamentation, being disposed directly upon the sur face of the article,,is, exposed and liable to in'ury, either through wear or abrasion.

I ile my invention is, applicablev to the ornamentatlon of articles of numerouskinds and formed of variousv materials, it is primarily intended for use in ornamented articles formed of fibrous material and a hardened binder,such as a henolic condensation product, and particularly articles of this character in whichthe fibrous material comprises superimposed sheets of paper or that it is practlcally im ossible to obtain a lasting ornamental artic e of this character by the usual methods of stenciling or transferring the design tothe surface of the finished product because of-the poor adhesion between the pi ent'sor dyes employed and the material 0 the article which possesses,

a naturall smooth-and polished surface.

()ne ob3ect of my in ention, therefore, resides in providing a method, for overcoming these ifiiculties, of such character that the ornamentation is disposed beneath a transparent or translucent surfacing pro.- vided for the article being ornamented, so

that perfect adhesion is secured and so that gether with additional but uncure of thenature referred to which perm its the applleatlon of the desired ornamentation during the forming of the body itself.

With these and-other objects in view,*m

invention will be more fully" .descnbe illustrated in the drawings, the several views of which corresponding numerals indicate like parts,and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

-. In the drawings, Fig. 1 is an elevation of -a propeller prov1ded with an ornamental inslgnla in accordance with myinvention; Fhg. 2 1s a plan of a plateof fibrou'smatenaland aibinder, provided with a fanciful design through the practice of m invention;

ig. 3 is a corresponding view s owin how I may imitate the grain of wood, and ig; 4 1s a sectional view of aicomposite plate tosurface forming sheets by means of which I may secure the desired decorative eflfect 3 My present invention is particularly adapted for ornamenting or decorating composlte bodies comprising superimposed layers of fibrous sheet: material impregnated with a suitable binder, condensation product, which maybe ren'e dered hard and substantially insoluble and infusible by the afpplication of heat, and pressure, and'one'o itschiefadvantages resides in the fact'that'the desired ornamenta tion may be appliedto the article. during the curing of its binder.

color, or colors,r.upon a sheet of fibrous ma terial, such as pa er, which maybe whitev or tinted, as desire This ornamented "sheet may then be disposed between sheets of ii brous material impregnated with 'a'phenolic condensation ,roduct and the sheets thus assembled mag lib disposed uponthe assembled mented. The sheets, between which the ornamented sheet isdisposed, may be ofany suitable material which possesses sufficient transparency or 'translucency, either under natural conditions or, at least, after it has been im reghated and 1 cured, to" disclose, with su cient clearness, the design upon' the body of the article to be orna-Y such as" a 'phenolic a 1 e0 .In-practisingmy invention, I may print,

sheet disposed between them. I have found that verythin paper, when impregnatedwith t e phenolic condensation, produet, is,

well'suited for this purpose. '1' After these'protective sheets and the interposed ornamented sheet have'been disposed upon the uncured body to be ornamented, the

article, together with the superposed sheets, may be cured in the usual manner by SllbJGCting it to heat and 'pressure to compact the material and to transform the binder toits final, hard and solid state. This is usually done by subjectin the body to heat and pressurein a suita ly shaped mold.

Obviously applied tothe ornamentation of articles of many kinds and of widely different materials. For example, in Figl. ing I have disclosed a propel er- 1 which may be formed of superimposed layers of fibrous sheet material and a binder, such as a phenolic condensation product, and which is provided with an insignia 2 appliedto one of its blades.

In Fig. 2 I have illustrated a plate or block 3 of. corresponding material provided with of my invention.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 4 of the drawing, I have disclosed an assembled plate comprising superimposed layers 1 of fibrous sheet material, such as duck, indicated at 7, impregnated with a suitable binder, such as a phenolic condensation product. Disposed above the bodythus assembled (and spaced therefrom and from each other, for the sake of clearness,) are protective sheets 8 which may comprise thin sheets of tissue paper impregnated with a phenoliccondensation product and an interposed sheet 9 upon which is printed or otherwise provided the desired ornamentation or design in any preferred color or colors. 1 Y

The body thus assembled may be brought to suitable shape and its binder may be cured by subjecting the body to heat and pressure betweenv the platens of a press, if the body he in plate form, or in a suitably shaped mold if the body has curved or irregular surfaces.

While I have shown the body of the plate as comprising duck and a binder, any other well known sheet material employed in the construction of articles of this character may be employed with equally good results.

:paper.

the foregoing process. may. be

1 of the draw-'- Further- Among such materials are woven fabrics of various characters, as cotton batting and In some instances, it may not be necessary to employ a protective sheet between the ornamented sheet and the body of the article to be ornamented," although I find that, as a rule, a more perfect adhesion of the ornamentalsurfacing is obtained by the employment of this sheet.

If the surface upon which the ornamental surfacing is to be molded is curved or irregular, itmay bead visableto apply the ornamental sheet and its rotective sheets to ashe'et or group of superimposed sheets of the material to be utilized in forming the body of-the article and to slightly heat and;

compress the superimposed sheets thus as- Isembled to provide "a preformed composite sheet which may be superimposed upon. other treated sheets which may then becur'ed in the usual manner. This will prevent tear-in ,or wrinkling of the ornamented sheet or'of its protective sheets during the molding operation.

If this is done, a sheet of untreated' ma terial should be disposed between the press plate and the sheet or sheets oftreatedmw terial upon which the ornamented sheetfand its protective sheets are disposed during. the

to provide the desired bodypreforming to protect such sheet fromrdirt,

and readily pulled off after the preforming'i to expose a clean surface for j'eng'agement against the remainder of the body to be grease. This untreated sheet may be molded so that-strong adhesion li'etwee'n the preformed and non-preformed portion v of the body may result from the final moldin'g.

Although I have described my invention with particular reference'to the ornamentation of a body of fibrous sheet material and a binder, it will be obvious that the ornamented sheet, with its protective sheets,'may be applied directlyto the surface of any article of a material which will not beinjured by the heat andthe binder of the protective sheets and may be molded to such surface with equally good results. My invention may, therefore, be practised in ornamenting sheet metal inimitation of wood work or in providing woodwork with any "desired decorative designs in any color or colors. limited to the mere ornamentation of a body but is broad enou h to include useful designs, diagrams and the like applied to various metallic and non-metallic bodies. example, diagrams of electrical connections and instruction charts may be applied to various instruments and apparatus such as meter cases" and the like. Identification charts and nameplates made in accordance with my invention may be machines and apparatus. In case the article being ornamented is ofapplied to various For i pressure requiredin curing My invention is not a material other than a fibrous filler and a binder, it may be desirable. to interpose several of the protective sheets between the ornamented sheet and the article to provide the lfatter with a harder and more durable surace.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that my invention is one of wide scope and that its application is not to be limited to any particular articles or materials. In fact, no limitations are to be imposed upon it other than those indicated in the claims.

I claim as my invention 1. The method of ornamenting a body which comprises disposing sheet material provided with the desired ornamentation between sheets of thin material impregnated with a binder, disposing the assembled sheets against the body to be ornamented and curing the binder.

2. The method of ornamentin a body, of fibrous material and a binder which ma be hardened under heat and pressure, which comprises forming the desired ornamentation upon a sheet of fibrous material, disposing the sheet so prepared between sheets of thin fibrous material impregnated with a binder, disposing the sheets so assembled against the body and subjecting the body and superimposing sheets to heat and pressure to compact them and harden their binder.

3. The method of ornamenting a body, comprising fibrous sheet material and a phenolic condensation product as a binder, which comprises assembling a body of such material, impregnating a transparent or translucent sheet of fibrous material with 'a phenolic condensation product, providing an untreated sheet with the desired ornamentation, interposing such sheet between the body and the impregnated sheet and subjecting the whole to heat and pressure to harden the binder.

4. The method of ornamenting a body which comprises forming the desired ornamentation upon a sheet of paper, disposing the ornamented sheet between sheets of thin paper impregnated with a phenolic condensation roduct, disposing the sheets so assembled upon the surface of the body and subjecting them to heat and pressure against the body to harden the binder.

5. The method of forming an ornamented article which comprises impre' ating fibrous. sheet material with a pheno ic condensation product, impregnating sheets of thin, translucent paper with a phenolic condensation product, forming the desired ornamentation upon a sheet of paper, disposing the ornamented sheet between certain of the thin paper sheets and upon certain of the first mentioned sheets subjecting the sheets thus assembled to slight heat and pressure to cause adhesion between them, forming a body of the first mentioned sheets with the slightl pressed sheets disposed at its surface, an subjecting the bod thus assembled to heat and pressure to har en the binder and shape the article.

6. An ornamental article comprising a body of superimposed layers of fibrous material and a hardened binder and an ornamented sheet disposed below one of the layers of the body and visible therethrough.

7. An ornamental article comprising a body formed of fibrous sheet material and a phenolic condensation product, the sheet material being disposed in superimposed layers, and at least a portion of the outermost of one of the layers being transparent, and an ornamented sheet disposed between the transparent sheet and the other layers of the body.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 19th day of June, 1919.

NOBLE S. CLAY. 

